Day: February 27, 2014

Spring Creek Correctional Center held a graduation ceremony Jan. 31st to honor the sixteen graduates of the Education Department’s latest GED program. The ceremony, which was catered by the Culinary Apprenticeship Program, was the culmination of months of hard work and dedication by the graduates. Not only does obtaining their GED represent a personal accomplishment for the inmates, it opens up many educational and employment opportunities. Studies have shown that inmates who earn their GED while incarcerated are significantly less likely to recidivate than those who do not. Lisa Rininger, the Learning Resources Department Head at AVTEC was the Key Note Speaker.

Officer Louie Schick started his service with the State of Alaska on April 4, 1988, in Nome as a Maintenance Worker II with the Department of Military Affairs. Officer Schick stayed with the Department of Military Affairs for 8+ years. On December 29, 1997, Officer Schick was hired by the Department of Corrections as a Correctional Officer I at Anvil Mountain Correctional Center (AMCC). During his time at AMCC, Officer Schick promoted to a Correctional Officer II and was an Acting Correctional Officer III on numerous occasions. Since transferring to PCC, Officer Schick has worked at the medium and minimum facilities. We would like thank him for his service and continued dedication to the Department of Corrections and Palmer Correctional Center. Officer Schick is currently working on his 26th year with our Department at PCC!

Municipal Officer Academy #5 graduated eight officers from various municipal jails located throughout the state. The three-week Academy was held at the DOC Academy in Palmer, graduation was February 21. The curriculum included searches, fire safety, core values, one-on-one control techniques, OC, use of force, report writing, CPR, officer survival, civil law, and various other curriculum.

On January 23rd Probation Officers (PO) Jeff Norris and Becky Tuominen had completed a remand to the Anchorage Correctional Complex and were returning to the field to complete more home contacts, when they witnessed a new crime. They observed a young man exiting an Office Depot store and watched him remove a laptop computer from under his shirt. PO Norris pulled their DOC vehicle into the store parking lot and maintained a visual on the suspect; meanwhile PO Tuominen spoke to the store manager about the theft at hand. PO Tuominen radioed Anchorage Police Department Dispatch, once it was confirmed that the suspect had in fact stolen the laptop. PO Norris and PO Tuominen detained the suspect until APD officers arrived on scene. It was later confirmed that the suspect was also involved in other computer thefts, one of which had made the evening news. The suspect was arrested and later confessed to the thefts. PO Norris and PO Tuominen acted in a safe manner and within their authority. Their quick action ended a string of ongoing thefts and ensured community safety.